Former American military commander and CIA chief David Petraeus will plead guilty to illegally providing classified secrets to his mistress, a dramatic fall from grace for a general once lauded as a war hero. Petraeus, feted in the US as the man who changed the course of the Iraq war, has signed a plea deal and statement "that indicate he will plead guilty" to unauthorized removal and retention of classified material, the Justice Department said Tuesday. According to the Justice Department, Petraeus acknowledged giving eight "black books" he kept as the commander in Afghanistan to his lover and biographer, Paula Broadwell. The notebooks included his daily schedule, classified notes, the identities of covert officers, details about US intelligence capabilities, code words, summaries of National Security Council meetings, and accounts of his meetings with President Barack Obama, according to court documents.

IRVINE, Calif. (AP) — Federal agents searched three dozen homes Tuesday in California during a crackdown on so-called maternity tourism operators who arrange for pregnant Chinese women to give birth in the U.S., where their babies automatically become American citizens.

WASHINGTON (AP) — A Justice Department investigation found sweeping patterns of racial bias within the Ferguson, Missouri, police department — with officers routinely discriminating against blacks by using excessive force, issuing petty citations and making baseless traffic stops, according to law enforcement officials familiar with the report.